Monsters and Masks
by Aiellord
Summary: Adam is not a monster. And yet he is. A prelude to upcoming works, but it stands on it's own. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY Or Pink Floyd. I'm just borrowing the characters and part of a song.**

Adam Taurus was lost. In his head. He knew exactly where he was. At a meeting with the other leaders of the White Fang. He tuned back in to the conversation and spoke.

"I will not continue to ally with this Cinder."

"Why not? She supplies us well."

"I will not work with Grimm."

"We hope you'll reconsider, Adam.

Adam walked out of the meeting room, and into the cool night air. He affixed the Grimm Mask-plain gray-to his face, before proceeding. He had been in turmoil after Blake left, and he thought she was right. How could he have been so callus as to blow up the train with everyone aboard. They would have died.

"Battle lust," he spoke aloud. "I'm no monster."

He walked on, listening to the night sounds, the breeze, the crunch of legs on-

Wait.

Adam snapped into his highest state of awareness, rolling, and whacking Mercury Black on the back with Blush, snapping it back to his waist, and drawing Wilt.

"Black. If you wanted to get beaten to the ground you should have stuck with your father."

"Who, me?"

Mercury launched into a series of kicks which Adam blocked, harrying with Wilt, before swapping to Blush and clubbing him on the shin. It didn't faze him.

'Metal...' Adam muttered.

His faunus senses were his only warning, as he rolled away from the thief's dagger swing, aimed for the head.

"Black, Sustrai... where's your boss?"

The two lackeys came at Adam together, who was now wielding both Wilt and Blush. Adam became one with the blade, dancing the forms as Mercury and Emerald's expressions shifted from smug to amazed. Adam made his move, slicing Mercury's legs in half with sheer power- not Moonslice, and shooting Emerald- the real one, not the illusion that he'd been fighting for the last two seconds- in the shoulder, and then clubbing her and Mercury unconscious with Blush. He then heard the twigs snap once more.

"Adam, I can't let you leave our arrangement."

"You won't have a choice in the matter."

Adam and Cinder flung themselves at each other, with Wilt alone deflecting and smashing through Cinder's dust swords. The two combatants, lost in their duel, became little more than blurs.

"Why, Adam?" Cinder asked in that seductive, slightly mocking tone she used with those below her. "Why do you seek to leave us. There are... other things I can offer you.

"I will not become a monster." Adam spat, unfazed by her attempt at seduction.

Cinder decided to end their fight. Using the power of the Fall Maiden- that part she possessed, anyway, she blasted a wave of energy at Adam.

At Adam, who was drawing his blade.

At Adam, who had Moonslice.

At Adam, who was one of the few people who could kill her.

Adam absorbed the collossal amount of energy, and was driven back several yards because of it's sheer power. He stood, glowing, and all the color in the world faded to black and red. And he triggered Moonslice. Mercury and Emerald had just awoken, and were staggering to their feet, as they found themselves behind Cinder, and a blast of energy coming straight for them. They knew they couldn't survive that.

A huge slab of iron landed in front of the drained trio, and took most of the beam's impact. What remained burned them, but not severely. Hazel Rainart landed just after, having thrown the slab, and the tired Adam had not the strength to escape him.

When Adam awoke, he saw huge arms enveloping him. Hazel's arms.

"..a shame," Cinder was saying, "this always takes something away from them. Leaves them little more than a monster. No Silver Eyes to cure this. Not anymore."

Those words echoed in Adam's head. 'Little more than a monster'. No. NO! Adam didn't realize he was screaming. As a last resort, he gored his horns into Hazel's arm, hoping he could squirm out. It didn't work, and his head was jerked out of the arm roughly.

"I'll need a focal point for... ah! Glad you wore your mask, Adam."

Cinder reached up, her glove pulsating. And tendrils of Grimm latched on to the mask. Adam howled in agony that he never thought he could know, as Grimm invaded his mind. His mask shifted from recruit gray to bleached white, and red-yellow veins appeared upon it. A tulip appeared in two places on his jacket, and he felt himself shift. His eyes remained the same, but their magic would not help. He had no aura left, and so could not activate them. He wished only that he could see their brilliant silver gleam one last time. Adam fell, into a pit of blackest night.

The thing, Adam now for all intents and purposes walked into the meeting room.

"I've thought it over, like you said, and agree, we should stay allied with Cinder, she's certainly..."

He continued, as Adam, the real Adam, was trapped in his own head, in the blackness, screaming, sure that his real eyes were closed, and that the thing in him was seeing through the mask. Part of a song Adam, the real Adam, listened to, rose unbidden to prominence.

 _You lock the door, and throw away the key,_

 _There's someone in my head, but it's not me._

Adam only hoped someone would take the verse's advice and lock the thing that was him away. He didn't know of any other Silver Eyes, and was sure he was the only one left. He screamed more, left to his torment.

Left to be a monster.

 **A/N: This is sort of a prelude to a universe that I'm working on creating, and it's based off of an idea me and a couple friends had regarding how canon Adam became so vengeful and hurtful in V3. FYI, this is not related to The Green Bat or When Green gets Bored. Those are independent crackfic universes. Please read and review. Thanks!**

 **-Aiellord**


End file.
